Grace Baptist Church

Pastor Chris Bell: If you would, please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 24. Let's pray that God would impact us mightily through his word this morning.

Father in heaven, we do come before you this morning as a hungry people. We are hungry for your word. We are hungry to be nourished in our souls through the truth that is revealed in the scriptures, the way that it reveals you to us, shows us who we are in relation to you, points out our need of salvation, and then shows the provision of that need in Jesus Christ.

Father, we come as hungry people, and we pray that now through your word, by your spirit, you would nourish us, that you would feed us, that you would fill us, and that you would move us with power through the scriptures that we would be changed.

Father, we pray that as we look at this passage, I pray that you would remove a frivolousness from our hearts and give us a seriousness about the great things that we're going to see here. I pray, Father, that this passage would move us as believers to live before you, to live all of life in the sight of God rather than concerned with the sight of man. I pray that as we do this, it would move us to live with a purity of conscience that is a blessing, that we would seek to live our lives to please you.

Father, I also pray for any unconverted who hear this message. Lord, if there be even one who does not yet know you, who has not yet turned from the deceitfulness of sin to find refuge in Christ that can be found in him alone, then I pray, Father, that by your spirit, through this passage and through the warning that we see in Felix's life, I pray that your spirit would afflict the sinner with such a terror of the coming reality of judgment, that you would so pain their conscience that they would not rest until they would find the salvation that is in Jesus Christ alone. Father, I pray that you would prick the conscience, that you would do that alarming work of soul so that you would convince even one unconverted not to delay, but to find salvation in Jesus this day. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Amen.

Pastor Chris Bell: Well, as we resume our Acts series this morning after taking a break from it last week, let's remember where we're at. Paul has just arrived at Caesarea having been sent there to the Governor Felix by the Roman tribune, Claudius Lysias, and that was after the Jewish plot to assassinate Paul was discovered. In the second half of Acts chapter 23, we saw how in all of those details Jesus was fulfilling his promise to protect Paul as Jesus had said that Paul must testify about him in Rome.

In all of the details, we saw God's hand of providence writ large throughout the text as God used all sorts of things, even something as simple as Paul's young nephew in order to move the Roman army into motion as God directed world powers towards his purposes, even when they did not so intend. God was using that army to protect and defend Paul. Now that Paul has made it to Caesarea safely, we will see his series of legal trials continue.

The whole chapter plays out like what we would expect of a courtroom, first with the accusation, then with the defense, and then the awaited decision of the judge, or in this case, the governor. Though Paul is on trial, by the end of the chapter, we will get an amazing sense that the tables have turned and it is actually Felix who will find himself on trial beneath the bar of God's justice.

Ultimately, what we will see together this morning is that the coming resurrection is secured in Jesus, motivates present purity, and guarantees the certain rendering of perfect judgment despite every earthly miscarriage and delay of justice. The coming resurrection is secured in Jesus, motivates present purity, and guarantees the certain rendering of perfect judgment despite every earthly miscarriage and delay of justice. So follow along with me as we read Acts chapter 24, and this is the word of God to us this morning beginning in verse one.

And after five days, the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul. And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him saying, "Since through you we enjoy much peace and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. But to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him. By examining him yourself, you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him."

The Jews also joined in the charge affirming that all these things were so. And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied, "Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. You can verify that it is not more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem, and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me.

But this I confess to you, that according to the way which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

Now after several years, I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings. While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia, they ought to be here before you and to make any accusation should they have anything against me. Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them: 'It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.'"

But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the way, put them off saying, "When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case." Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

After some days, Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, "Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I will summon you." At the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

Guest (Male): Amen.

Pastor Chris Bell: We mentioned in our introduction that this passage really does break down into three main sections with the accusation and the defense and then what should have been the verdict. Let's get into the first section here, verses one through nine, the denigration. Why didn't I just call it the accusation? Because my other two points started with 'D' and I really just wanted to keep the alliteration going. So they are denigrating Paul here. This is the denigration.

Beginning in verse one, and after five days, the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. We see that they're coming here after five days. At this point, the Sanhedrin has heard of Paul's departure from Jerusalem to Caesarea. You can see their determination to silence Paul's witness and their malicious intent to persecute him in the fact that they are willing to make this long hike to Caesarea to get their case ready and all of these things in such a quick time just to get there to keep pressing the accusations. They didn't waste any time in this. They prepared their case and got down there as fast as they could to ensure that Paul's case would not be dismissed before they could keep pressing the charges. They did not want Paul to get away.

For the high priest himself to come rather than just to send someone else shows that he is taking this very personally. Ananias has a vendetta against Paul, and he himself is coming down to oversee this. But we also meet this individual named Tertullus. It says that they came with a spokesman, one Tertullus. We don't really know anything about this man other than the fact that the Sanhedrin has brought him to represent them as their spokesman. This is most likely a professional lawyer, someone who is well-versed in Roman law and who would be able to present the charges in the way most calculated to gain the attention and concern of a Roman governor, such as Felix.

Once again, once Paul is summoned before the governor in order to face his accusers directly, the proceedings begin. We read, and when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him saying, "Since through you we enjoy much peace and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude."

There are a few things that we need to note about Tertullus's introduction, which he gives here. First, these compliments are disingenuous and dishonest. These Jews did not enjoy great peace under Felix. In fact, his reign was one of the most troubled. While he did seek to quell some insurrectionists, such as the assassins and such as the Egyptian false Messiah who we discussed back in chapter 21, the fact is that Felix relied on such harsh methods in his reign that it actually led to deep Jewish resentment against him. There was much trouble, much unrest during his reign. It was this poor skill in his rule which eventually moved the Emperor Nero to actually revoke Felix's governorship. Tertullus's compliments are disingenuous.

Second, these initial remarks are already calculated to manipulate Felix to rule against Paul. Tertullus has just praised Felix as a keeper of the peace, and he's about to accuse Paul of being a disturber of the peace. He's already supplying subtle motivation for Felix to want to condemn Paul in order to maintain the supposed reputation that Tertullus has just praised him for.

Third, Tertullus's words are a clear example of brazen flattery. With these false compliments, Tertullus is appealing to Felix's pride. He's seeking to stroke his ego in order to ingratiate the Sanhedrin with Felix with the hopes that Felix will then feel biased towards these accusers. Yet this reliance on flattery is a tool just to subvert true justice as the Sanhedrin brings these false accusations against Paul. But what does the Bible say about flattery? We could go to lots of verses, but we'll go just to a couple. We could say that the Bible has nothing good to say about it.

Proverbs chapter 26, verse 28, "A lying tongue hates its victims and a flattering mouth works ruin." Flattery and deceit go right together because flattery does not seek to build others up in legitimate and true and honest encouragement. It seeks to puff them up so that you can manipulate them for your own ends rather than what will actually be good for the person that you're flattering. Our pride, it makes us vulnerable to flattery. We like having those ears tickled. We like having that ego stroked. But beware a flatterer because they're not trying to help you. They're buttering you up so that you won't see the knife in the back coming when it does, and it will lead to your ruin.

Proverbs 28, verse 23, "Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue." What is this telling us? It's saying that constructive criticism from a genuine friend who actually cares about you, though it hurts in the moment, is better for you in the long run than a false friend who just tells you whatever makes you feel good but doesn't actually have your best interest in mind.

Flattery is bad enough by itself, but we have to note that it is even worse in contexts that involve rulers and the administration of justice because flattery easily subverts justice and righteousness in decision making. In contexts of power, there is a greater temptation to flatter rather than urging those above us to do what is right because we have a fleshly desire to make our superiors like us in order that they might grant us higher positions or greater influence or favors. That's just what Tertullus is doing.

It's in these contexts that we often see 'yes men,' sycophants who will say anything just about and go along with anything just to rise through the ranks, resorting to flattery. When we begin to understand how sinful such flattery is, we will grow to hate it. Flattery is wicked, and we should seek neither to engage in it ourselves and to avoid being deceived by it in others. Let's continue in our text to see the way that Tertullus's accusation continues here in verses four through 5a.

He says, "But to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. For we have found this man a plague." He calls Paul a plague. Here we see the Sanhedrin's total contempt for Paul as they denigrate him by literally calling him basically a pestilence. This man is a disease. In their eyes, Paul is a disease which infects and compromises everyone who comes into contact with him. He is a blight to be purged.

But now we get into the actual charges. First, they've found him to be "one who stirs up riots among the Jews throughout the world." They've officially labeled Paul a disturber of the peace, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews. As we've noted before in Acts, this is not a charge to be taken lightly. Roman rule took very seriously any threat to what is called the Pax Romana, or the Roman peace. So this is a serious charge that if proven true will have severe consequences.

Second, they call him "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." The term 'Nazarenes' was a derogatory way of referring to Christians based on the fact that Jesus was himself a Nazarene from Nazareth, a lowly and despised town. They call it a sect. They're basically viewing Christianity as an errant and unorthodox breakaway from the larger stream of Judaism.

The word 'ringleader' is actually a military term for a commander or a leader who stands in front of the ranks as a standard-bearer, carrying the standard in front of the army. They are rightly identifying Paul as one of the most prominent leaders and promoters of the Christian movement. But when you combine the first two charges together, first of stirring up riots and of being a leader of this sect, we get the impression that they're really trying to paint the Christians out as some sort of fanatical religious subgroup which seeks to stir up sedition against Rome.

That shouldn't surprise us whatsoever because that's just how they tried to paint Jesus too in order to get him crucified. We're not going to turn here, but if you want, you could look up sometime Luke chapter 23, verses one through five, where they paint Jesus as this political threat, King of the Jews, one who forbids paying tribute to Caesar. They say that he stirs up the people, even using the same type of language here of 'stirring up' the people. This is just one more instance where we see Paul following in the footsteps of Jesus, enduring many of the same types of persecutions. It reminds us that a disciple is not above his master. If the world hated Jesus, they will hate those who follow him and represent him as well.

What is the third charge that they bring against him? Verse six, "He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him." They accuse Paul of attempting to profane the temple. This is a reference back to chapter 21, verse 28, where the Jews accused Paul of defiling the temple by bringing Greeks into it past the court of the Gentiles. This also is a very serious charge to bring against him. Although Rome did not grant Israel the authority to carry out capital punishment in most matters, they did when it came to defiling or desecrating the temple. So if Felix renders a guilty verdict on Paul for this charge, it would be essentially giving the Sanhedrin permission to have Paul killed.

At this point in the text, we do need to point out a difference that you may note among our various translations depending on what you're reading. You may have even noticed it when I was reading the passage initially this morning. Some manuscripts include a longer insertion to the end of verse six and then all of verse seven and then a longer introduction to verse eight. You can see it in the ESV footnote here. It says, "Some manuscripts add: 'And we would have judged him according to our law, but the chief captain Lysias came and with great violence took him out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come before you.'"

The King James version and the New King James version will include this addition. If you're reading an older edition of the NASB or the LSB, it will include the addition in the text, but it will be surrounded by brackets to indicate that this is a textual variant. But other translations, such as the ESV and others, will not include the addition in the main body of the text, but perhaps just put it in the footnotes of the text.

While this textual variant does not change the overall point of the chapter as a whole, it does have an effect on the interpretation of verse eight. If the longer reading is included, then the pronoun 'him' in verse eight would most likely refer back to Claudius Lysias, the Roman tribune. Tertullus is urging Felix to cross-examine the accusations with Lysias's testimony. But if the longer reading is removed, then the pronoun 'him' most naturally refers back to Paul, who the Jews say that they seized in verse six. In this reading, Tertullus is urging Felix to cross-examine Paul himself to see that the accusation is true.

As one commentator expressed it, maybe Tertullus thinks that if they just give Paul enough rope, he'll hang himself, so to speak. But the oldest and best manuscripts do not include the longer addition, so there is a very good chance that it's not original to the passage of what Luke actually wrote. We continue on in verse nine. It says the Jews also joined in the charge affirming that all these things were so.

Of course, the Jews from the Sanhedrin give their affirmation to everything that their hired attorney has just said. Before we move on, let's just stop and review the first main observation from the accusation section here. We can say it like this: Paul's opponents, represented by Tertullus, sought to manipulate Felix through flattery to rule unjustly in their favor against Paul. If that's the case, an application that we may draw from this would be: seek the influence of those who will give you truthful encouragement and correction rather than those who will stroke your ego for their own purposes.

We won't belabor this point of application as we already really covered it earlier, but let this just sink in. Remember that those who would try to flatter you are not your real friends. This doesn't mean that there's never a place for true and genuine encouragement. Encouragement is good and it is needed from time to time, but it's always going to be grounded in truth, and its intent is to build up rather than to puff up. There is a difference between encouragement and flattery. Also, in addition to avoiding the influence of flatterers, we could also add to that, make sure that you yourself are not resorting to flattery to get what you want. It may seem advantageous in the moment, but in the long run, it only compromises the integrity of right decision making and doing what is honorable in the Lord's sight. So do not resort to this.

Now that we've seen the opponents denigrate Paul in the accusation, let's move on to see the defense, verses 10 through 21. And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied, "Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense."

We can immediately see a contrast between Tertullus's dishonest flattery and Paul's honest simplicity in his introduction to his defense. He keeps it short and simple, not tickling Felix's ears, but simply stating the fact that Felix has been governor for a long time and so he should be well enough acquainted with matters, customs, and controversies pertaining to Jewish life and religion that he will have sufficient knowledge to render a fair and just verdict. By this point, Felix had served in his office for around five years, whereas most others in this period only served in this capacity for around two years. He is the exception here, having a longer term. We'll go on to see that this experience did not result in a proper decision being given, but based on the fact that Felix should have been competent to do the right thing given the amount of time that he'd been in office, Paul was happy to make his defense before him.

Paul is going to respond to each of these three accusations, each in turn that we saw earlier. First, we see Paul's response to the charge that he was stirring up riots. Let's read verses 11 through 13. He says, "You can verify that it is not more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem, and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me."

Why does he point out that it was not more than 12 days since he went up to Jerusalem to worship? The point is that 12 days is not even sufficient time to amass a large following in Jerusalem in order to stir up a revolt. Even if that was Paul's goal, which it wasn't, he couldn't have been guilty of creating a riot because he didn't have time to organize and gather such a mass following. After all, he'd been away from Jerusalem for long periods of time before that, so it's not like he already had some base to build on.

Beyond this, even when Paul was in Jerusalem for this latest trip, he was not engaged in public debate or anything largely controversial. What's more, Paul reminds Felix that the burden of proof is on his accusers. He is innocent until proven guilty, as it should be. Even if he did do these things, which he didn't, his accusers have not presented any actual proof. They have nothing to ground their accusation in except for merely asserting that Paul did it. So Paul pleads not guilty to the first charge.

Second, Paul answers the accusation of being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. But notice how he starts this section in verse 14. "But this I confess to you." His answer to the second charge is actually presented here as a confession. What does he confess to? Let's read the rest of verses 14 into 15. "But this I confess to you, that according to the way which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust."

He confesses to worshiping according to the way. As we've noted on numerous occasions, this was an early title for Christianity because Jesus said that he is the way, the truth, and the life. In other words, the only thing Paul actually confesses to is being a Christian. He's going to explain why he's actually completely orthodox in his belief by being a Christian. But by phrasing it as a confession, it's almost as if Paul is saying, "They've accused me of being a Christian, a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, and if being a Christian is a crime, then I'm guilty as charged. I'll own my Christian faith loud and clear."

It reminds me really of a song which came out several years ago, and though the lead singer of the band was unfortunately recently caught up in a scandal, it does not nullify the truth and the value of the words in the song. Perhaps you've heard it before, but the chorus and then leading into the bridge goes like this: "If serving you is against the law of man, if living out my faith in you is banned, then I'll stand right before the jury. If saying I believe is out of line, if I'm judged because I'm going to give my life to show the world the love that fills me, then I want to be guilty by association, guilty of being a voice proclaiming your ways, your truth, your life. I'll pay the price to be your light." Powerful lyrics there, but I think it really captures what Paul is saying. This I confess that yes, according to the way I worship the God of our fathers. Guilty as charged, I am a Christian.

Paul confesses to being a Christian, but despite the fact that his opponents have painted Christianity as some sort of unorthodox or heretical sect, Paul goes on to explain that his belief is firmly within bounds, being the actual truth. He believes everything written down by the law and in the prophets. That's just shorthand for the entire Old Testament. He's saying that his belief in Jesus is not a departure from orthodox faith and the truth of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, it is the fulfillment of it. If his Jewish opponents believed their own scriptures, they would become Christians too as it all points to Jesus.

There may even be a slight here against some of his accusers because of course we know some of them were Sadducees, and of course we know that the Sadducees only believed in the Torah, the law, but not in the rest of the Old Testament. So Paul may even be subtly pointing out that by his belief in the law and the prophets, he's actually more orthodox than his Sadducee opponents who don't believe in all of God's word.

Then he goes on to show how the core element of his belief centers on the widely accepted tenet of the Jews, the doctrine of resurrection. Now we know that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, but the Pharisees did. So evidently when he refers to even his opponents as accepting the doctrine of resurrection, he must be referring to the Pharisaical part of the Sanhedrin. Indeed, the Old Testament does clearly state that there will be a final resurrection of all humanity which will forever separate the righteous from the wicked. One of the clearest texts of this in the Old Testament is Daniel 12:2. We looked at this during the Easter sermon. "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

Notice what Paul is saying. Yes, I am a Christian, and if that's a crime, then I'm guilty as charged. But being a Christian does not make me some sort of sectarian heretic as they would imply. Instead, I am faithfully worshiping the God of our fathers, that is the patriarchs. I am a Christian because of my belief in Israel's scriptures, and I hold to the same hope that Israel has always held to, the hope of a coming resurrection. In other words, Paul is pointing out that being a Christian is the most faithfully Jewish thing that he could do.

But notice also that the distinction between the just and the unjust in the resurrection, right, he says that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust, verse 15. Notice that this distinction, it actually implies that really the resurrection is going to bring a time of judgment. That's when that separation is going to occur. In light of this fact that all people will one day stand before God and give an account of their lives, this leads to Paul's next statement in verse 16. "So," in other words, in light of this fact, because this is true, "so I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man."

Paul's hope in the future informed the way he lived in the present. He made it his aim to live his life with a pure conscience seeking to live every moment before God in a way which would honor and please God and which God would approve of, and before man in a way which would do no harm to his fellow man but rather promote their well-being. This should always be the aim of the Christian, to seek to live all of life with a pure conscience. Not to earn salvation, something that we could never achieve, but in light of the fact that we will give an account of our Christian life and we desire to please the one who saved us.

So let's look at what Paul elsewhere says about believers standing before the judgment seat of Christ even in 2 Corinthians 5. We'll turn there in just a moment, but we have to note that this is not a judgment for our sins, which will determine our salvation, as just a few verses later in the same chapter, Paul is going to go on to talk about how we have become the righteousness of God in Christ as he who knew sin became sin for us, 2 Corinthians 5:21. So our sins were dealt with on the cross, and this judgment seat of Christ is not a judgment that will result in eternal condemnation, but it will be an evaluation of the value and faithfulness of our service to the Lord, which will result in loss or gain of rewards.

2 Corinthians 5, verses six through 10, Paul says, "So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him." So whether he's living in life and in death, the Christian's desire is to please the Lord.

What is one motivation for why we would want to live a life to please the Lord? Verse 10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." Even for the Christian who knows that eternal condemnation has been removed through the sacrifice of Christ, even then there is still a healthy fear that comes from knowing that we will give an account, even of our Christian life for the Lord, and we want our lives to be found as valuable towards his purposes in this world rather than wasteful and useless. Paul lived every day striving to maintain a pure conscience in light of that coming day when he would answer to Christ for his Christian life.

What a blessing a pure conscience is. How happy is the man or woman that lives life with a clean conscience. Just look at the strength that having a clean conscience gave Paul in this trial as he stands with confidence and boldness before his accusers. Slander and accusations from others, though they do hurt and they can cause great damage and extreme pain, cannot ultimately destroy the inward peace that a believer experiences when he evaluates himself and can honestly and truly affirm to himself that he is living in a state of purity before God. When you know that in your heart of hearts, that will bring a peace that money can't buy. A pure conscience makes a very soft pillow to lay your head down on at night. We should strive to live a life of integrity, chiefly to please the God who we love, but also for the sake of our own joy so that we may live a joyful life which is free from the weight and the burden of an accusing conscience. It's a miserable thing to live with.

But now Paul moves on to address the third charge in verse 17. He says, "Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings." He explains why he was in the temple in the first place. He was in Jerusalem to bring alms to his nation. That's a reference to the financial relief gift that he brought from the Gentile churches to help the poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem which we had noted in several previous sermons by comparing Acts with what Paul says in his letters elsewhere. When he says that he also gave offerings, that's probably a reference to the offerings he gave to pay the expenses of the four Jewish Christians who were under the Nazirite vow back in chapter 21.

Verse 18, "While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or tumult." So it was in this context that they found Paul purified in the temple. That's a reference to the fact that Paul underwent the purification rituals also in order to help the four Jewish Christians complete their vows in the temple as we noted once again back when we were in chapter 21. Notice what Paul is saying here. Far from attempting to profane the temple, he actually showed great respect for the temple by making sure he went through the proper purification rights in order to worship in the temple after being in Gentile lands. He didn't want to do anything to give offense to his fellow Jews. When he was found purified in the temple, once again he says he wasn't stirring up any trouble or controversy. He wasn't surrounded by a great crowd of followers. He was by himself.

If Paul was just acting peacefully and honoring the temple, what went wrong? Look at verses 18b and into 19. "But some Jews from Asia, they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation should they have anything against me." Paul, he begins to go into the fact that it was actually the Jews from Asia who stirred up the riot when they screamed, "Help!" because this was allegedly the man who's trying to defile the temple and so they said, "Help, seize him," as we saw back in chapter 21. But then he cuts himself off, he cuts himself short. Why? Because he remembers that Roman law requires the accusers, those who actually claim to have witnessed the alleged crime, to be present at the trial. The Sanhedrin wasn't even there for Paul's alleged profaning of the temple. The ones who supposedly saw this and initially accused him of it were the Asian Jews who stirred up the mob. They should be the ones present to present the accusation.

Yet they didn't show up. It's essentially asking, had they dropped the charges because they had no real case to bring? Without the proper accusers present, the people who were actually there, the case should be dropped and thrown out of court. There is no case. Paul is pointing out that without the proper accusers present, this charge is really irrelevant anyway.

Verse 20, "Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council." If the Sanhedrin has something they actually want to accuse Paul of, it should be something that they can actually legitimately testify to as having been there. The only thing that they were present for was Paul's Sanhedrin trial. So can they testify to any crimes that Paul has committed before them? Paul says the only thing they could have against me is this: "Other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them: 'It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.'"

Paul once again cuts through the fluff and brings it back to the real reason he's on trial just as he insisted in chapter 23. He is not truly on trial for any crimes against Rome or being any threat to the Roman peace. That is all really just a front to hide and distract from the real issue and it's this: Paul's opponents simply do not like him because of his theological disagreement and Paul's preaching of the resurrection. Paul he keeps insisting that it is this hope of resurrection for which he is on trial and this repetition, it really shows us its significance as a major theme in Acts. He said it in Acts 23 before the Sanhedrin, he's now said it twice in his defense before Felix, and it's going to come up later as we move through the trial scenes going forward.

But in verse 21, when he says, "it is with respect to the resurrection of the dead," 'the dead' there in verse 21, the word is plural. Why is Paul saying that the real issue is his belief in the resurrection of the dead in a general sense if that was already commonly accepted among the Jews? Well, the trial scenes build on one another and they continue to shed greater light and insight as they go. I think we do gain some additional insight even in Acts chapter 26, verses 22 through 23, in one of the future trial scenes where we read this: "To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles."

He's emphasizing not just the fact of Christ's resurrection, but also that Christ is the first of the resurrection. In other words, the end times resurrection of the dead that the Old Testament proclaimed has already broken into history in an initial way through the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus's resurrection represents an inbreaking of the kingdom age even now into the old age of sin and death. This also matches what the apostles preached earlier in Acts. Acts chapter 4, verses one through two, "And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead."

So the issue really is Paul's and the apostles' claim that in Jesus the resurrection promised for the future and the age of fulfillment of Israel's hopes have already begun initially in Jesus as the promised Messiah and Lord. It is this sure hope of resurrection grounded in Jesus which explains how Paul can be so bold and confident as he is in this passage. Because Paul lives his life before God, seeking to honor him and has the certain hope of resurrection, he does not need to have the fear of man. He does not need to fear his accusers or Felix. Whatever happens, Paul stands in purity of conscience and certainty of resurrection before God.

So let's make a second observation here. Paul's belief in the coming resurrection, already begun in Jesus, motivated a purity of life which was rooted in the fear of God and free of the fear of man. So for us, we could say: let your hope in the promised future move you to pursue the blessing of a clean conscience in the present. We won't belabor this because once again we already touched on it previously, but we'll simply note that when we know that our final destination is to be just like Jesus when we behold him, then that should move us to start moving in that direction of purity even now in anticipation of that day.

The promise of our future glorification pulls us along in the progress of our sanctification now. The reality of our future pulls us forward towards the future even now motivating and empowering us. And when we do that, when we live our lives before an audience of one, seeking to do what is right in the sight of God, if we actually lived to an audience of one, we would stop being concerned with appearing right to others and instead be concerned with actually being right in the sight of God. So ask yourself: do you devote more attention to how you look to others or to what the actual condition of your heart and secret actions is before God? When we live all of life, here's a phrase: 'Coram Deo.' It means 'before the face of God.' When we live all of life Coram Deo, before the face of God, it affords a clean conscience which money can't buy and which produces a peace and confidence in the heart that can withstand whatever is going on or happening to or around us.

So we've now seen the accusation and the defense. But what verdict will Felix give? Let's continue on to the final section of our passage today and that is the delay, verses 22 through 27. Verse 22, "But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the way, put them off saying, 'When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.'"

We see here that Felix, it says he has a rather accurate knowledge of the way. In other words, through whatever means, he has come to understand a fair amount about Christianity. He knows what the Christians are about. He knows that they aren't troublemakers in society or rebels trying to start a revolution or stir up riots. So does this lead him to clear Paul's name and render a not guilty verdict? No. He simply stalls. He puts the Jews off and gives the following excuse. He says, "When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case."

So he delays a decision under the pretense that he needs to hear the testimony of Lysias in order to really figure out the truth of the matter with Paul. But what do we know? He already knows Lysias's testimony. Lysias has already sent the letter which we saw at the end of chapter 23, which very clearly said that this was simply a religious dispute with no crimes against Rome that would deserve death or imprisonment. Claudius spelled that out very clearly in his letter that he sent to Felix in the end of chapter 23.

So why is Felix doing this? He feels caught between doing the right thing and the convenient thing. He knows Paul is innocent, but he doesn't want to declare him innocent and invoke the wrath of the Jews. If he wants to maintain his governorship, he doesn't want to upset the Jews any more than he already has during his reign and risk them sending a delegation to complain about him to the emperor, which is what ultimately ended up happening in the end when he was removed from office. He wants to maintain the peace with his constituents. He wants to maintain that favorability.

So what's his solution? Try to straddle the fence by doing nothing. Not condemning Paul, not clearing Paul, but also not releasing Paul. Just letting him sit and rot for a while in prison. And he knows that Paul isn't actually dangerous because look at the privileges that he gives him in prison, verse 23. "Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs." So he knows that Paul is a Roman citizen guilty of no crime, so that Paul's friends can come and visit him freely. But he does evidently have some curiosity to continue hearing about Paul and his faith. Look at verse 24.

"After some days, Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus." So here we meet his wife Drusilla. Who was Drusilla? She was the daughter of Herod Agrippa the First, who killed James the brother of John in Acts chapter 12. She was the sister of Herod Agrippa the Second who we're actually going to meet in Acts chapter 25. But she wasn't originally married to Felix. She was first married to Azizus, the king of Emesa. But when Felix saw her beauty, he convinced her to commit adultery by divorcing Azizus and leaving him in order to marry Felix. But we also see here that she's Jewish. So that actually may be partly where Felix's knowledge of the way came from, hearing about these Jewish matters and whatnot.

And so when they summon Paul, Paul takes the opportunity to talk about faith in Christ. I like what one commentator noted that though Paul is a prisoner, this in no way meant the end of his witness, not in the slightest. He still took every opportunity to share the gospel in whatever environment he found himself in, free or not. To speak of Christ or to speak of faith in Christ is to speak of the gospel, the good news. That though we are sinners, God has provided atonement for our sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and the promise of forgiveness for any and all who will turn from sin in repentance and trust in Christ alone because he was raised from the dead to give new life and has now been risen and ascended on high to rule and reign as Lord and Messiah.

As Paul goes on, it immediately becomes evident why Felix and Drusilla, including us, so desperately needed to hear this gospel, this truth of faith in Christ. In verse 25, it says and he reasoned about righteousness. So Paul discussed righteousness. God's perfect standard of holiness revealed in his law. And it's interesting that sometimes, depending even on the context, righteousness can be translated as 'justice.' As a governor, Felix was to uphold and administer justice. In fact, we know from scripture that this is one of God's purposes for human rulers. He appoints them with the task of upholding his righteous standards in the world.

1 Peter 2, verses 13 and 14, "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good." So what should emperors and governors do? Punish the evil, praise the good. Yet even within the passage, we can see Felix failing in this task and not conforming to or upholding God's righteousness as he delays the case.

But Paul also speaks, it says, of self-control. Because God has a righteous standard, we are obligated to exercise self-control over our sinful passions and desires in order to conform our lives to that standard. And we've all failed in that regard. The mere fact of our fallenness and the existence of sinful desires within us guarantees it, it's a non-starter. And we can see how this teaching would have especially hit Felix and Drusilla in their failure to exercise self-control as they embraced adultery together. Drusilla had left her husband and Felix had enticed her to do it. And because that was the case both in Felix's and Drusilla's particular case, but also generally in the case of all humanity which falls short of God's righteous standard, that leads us to the final point that Paul discussed.

He also told them of the coming judgment. The coming judgment. It's inevitable. And it's the resurrection which makes it so. We saw earlier how Paul connected the resurrection with the separation of the just and the unjust. We recall earlier in Acts how the resurrection of Christ is what establishes him as the judge of all humanity. You'll remember back in Acts 17, verses 30 through 31, Paul said, "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

So he says there is judgment day coming. There is a day when all of humanity will stand before the bar of God's judgment and what is the proof that that day is coming? The proof that that day is coming is the fact that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. That vindication of God the Father towards Jesus Christ is all the proof we need that God has chosen Jesus Christ as the man to judge the world. And this risen Savior, he will judge the world one day. It wasn't his purpose in his first coming. His purpose in his first coming was to save the world, but in his second coming, he will stand as judge and he will administer perfect justice with impeccable righteousness, not missing a detail.

But we must note Paul's faithfulness here. Consider his boldness and courage that unlike Tertullus, who resorted to false flattery, Paul here fearlessly confronts Felix with the reality of his own sin and of coming judgment despite the fact that Felix holds the power over Paul. Paul's life is in Felix's hands, and Felix can detain or release him. And yet Paul did not soften the message to gain favor with Felix, not in the slightest. Paul feared God rather than man, and Felix's position had no bearing on Paul's willingness to speak truth. Oh, that God would give us such a heart of boldness that is not influenced by the audience we speak to but will say the truth as it is.

And being confronted with these truths, we see the terror of conviction strikes Felix's heart. Look at what we read here. It says and as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed. He was alarmed. So Paul's witness has had the proper effect, and it has pricked Felix's conscience. He has been awakened in his conscience, so to speak.

So what will Felix do? Well, tragically, he's going to practice the same kind of delay in spiritual matters as he has already practiced in earthly matters. Going on, he said, "Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I will summon you." Rather than respond to the conviction in repentance and faith, rather than facing the problem of a convicted conscience head-on by turning from his sin and finding forgiveness in Jesus, Felix attempts to salve his conscience another way, by putting the issue off and sending away the messenger who had aroused his conscience. He said, "I don't like this feeling of conviction, so I'm going to try to send it away by sending Paul away," rather than by dealing with it properly.

And he did so with the presumption that he could deal with the issue of his sin and salvation at a later time when it was more convenient for him, "When I get an opportunity, I will summon you." In other words, he thought that he could deal with these matters of his soul according to his own time frame. But this was presumption as there is no guarantee that the Holy Spirit would ever again convict him of his sin again as he had this day. No guarantee that such an opportunity of conviction would come again.

Indeed, the scripture says in Isaiah 55, six through seven, "Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon." Also in Hebrews 3, verses seven through eight, "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness.'"

But tragically, Felix did not heed these admonitions. He let the moment pass. And we have every indication in the last couple of verses that such a moment of opportunity and conviction of his heart never came again. As instead, he gave way to the ruling passions and desires of his fallen sinful nature. Let's read verses 26 and 27. At the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

So Felix did have more opportunities to talk with Paul. But no longer did he feel the alarm of conviction for his sin. Instead, he prolonged Paul's stay in prison and spent lots of time with him in the hopes that Paul would grow tired of being held there and eventually resort to paying a bribe in order to be released. That may also explain even why Felix let Paul have open access to his friends to come and go in the prison. He knew that Paul had previously brought alms to his nation, and Paul's friends may be able to bring a large sum of money to Paul in order to be used for such a bribe. So we see another example of how Felix's greed and his avarice perverted the administration of proper justice.

It says that this goes on for two years until his ineptitude in ruling and maintaining peace eventually leads to his recall and replacement by a new governor. And even up to the very end of his rule, he kept Paul in prison. He knew Paul was innocent, but he took two years of his life in prison, first in hopes of getting a bribe and second, it says, in order to do the Jews a favor. He was willing to pervert justice in order to do anything he could to grasp at greater popularity with his constituents. But even that didn't work out in the end as they still complained about him and got him removed from office.

So what do we see in Felix? In Governor Felix, we see a conflicted man, confronted with his sin and convicted in his conscience, but unwilling to repent and be saved because his desires for money and prolonged power in this world overrule his fear for his eternal soul. But what does Jesus say? Mark 8:36, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" Answer: absolutely nothing. It's the greatest loss conceivable. And as Paul had told Felix, God's perfect divine judgment was coming, and Felix's attempt to remove that from his mind didn't make it any less real.

So what's a final observation we can make here? Felix could delay the administration of human justice, but no delay of repentance can stave off the certain arrival of divine judgment. We'll say that again for emphasis. Felix could delay the administration of human justice, but no delay of repentance can stave off the certain arrival of divine judgment. So the application then, to any sinner who has not yet found the refuge that is in Christ. Application: seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near.

The story of Felix is a story of tragedy and eternal loss all for the foolish refusal to turn from his sin. If you don't know Christ, heed the warning that we have in Felix. Whatever sinful pleasure or vice that you're holding on to, it is not worth it. Whatever lie you've been telling yourself that you can just get right with God later, it is not guaranteed. Today is the day of salvation. If the spirit is convicting your heart, act now while you can before the moment passes. Because your heart may become dull to his warnings so that you can never again sense the same urgency that you feel in this moment for salvation. Whatever loss of sinful pleasure, vice, reputation, or position that you feel in this life to turn from sin will be repaid in infinite degrees with the greater joy and peace that you will find in Jesus Christ as the one who you were created to know and to love, both now and in eternity. So trust in him. Call on him today and without delay.

And believer, let this tragic warning fill you with a renewed sense of urgency to evangelize the lost around you in the fear of God rather than man. Because ultimately, as we've seen together this morning, the coming resurrection is secured in Jesus, motivates present purity, and guarantees the certain rendering of perfect judgment despite every earthly miscarriage and delay of justice. Let's pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you for the warnings of your word. We thank you that you love us enough not to only tell us what sounds sweet in the moment but to slap us with the stark warning of coming judgment so that we may be alarmed and that that alarm would drive us to turn from sin, to find salvation in Christ and eternal life with him.

Father, once again, we do pray for anyone hearing this who doesn't know you. Lord, convict their hearts. Torment their soul with the affliction of conviction by your spirit to the extent that they would turn today and so be saved. Don't let them pass on this moment, but call them, call them effectually as only you can do.

Father, for the rest of us, for the believers today, I pray, Father, that we would live every day in light of the day that we will stand before Christ and answer for our Christian life before him. Help us to live before an audience of one and as we do that, may we find the blessing of a pure and clean conscience that money cannot buy, that we would have the joy that comes from knowing we live to please you. This is our desire. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.